Storm batters Maine with heavy, wet snow

A storm that battered the Midwest with heavy snow on Monday is delivering a fresh blast of powder to much of inland Maine.

A storm that battered the Midwest with heavy snow on Monday is delivering a fresh blast of powder to much of inland Maine.

The National Weather Service has placed Aroostook, Piscataquis, northern Penobscot and Somerset, Franklin and Oxford counties under a winter storm warning. The heaviest snow accumulation will be concentrated in central and northern Maine, with 10 inches forecast for much of the region. Higher amounts are predicted for Greenville and central Piscataquis County, where 13 inches may fall by nightfall.

Here is where things stand late this afternoon with the incoming storm. Brief summary: Quickly increasing snowfall amounts from south to north. In addition to the 45-50 mph wind gusts along the coast, 1 to 1.5 inches of rainfall are expected there and in southern NH. pic.twitter.com/x7Hh8oiWZB

Further south, the weather service has placed southern Penobscot and northern Hancock and Washington counties under a winter weather advisory, and snowfall accumulations are anticipated to be much lower.

Greater Bangor can expect up to 4 inches of snow through the end of the day. In Lincoln, forecasters expect 5 inches to fall, and in northern Washington County, residents can expect to find up to 4 inches of fresh snow by the end of the day.

As of 7:12 a.m., Central Maine Power reported more than 14,500 outages scattered throughout its service area, with the bulk of the outages concentrated in Cumberland and Oxford counties. In Emera Maine’s service area, there have been few power disruptions so far, with just 44 outages reported, the bulk of them in Deer Isle.

The snow and rain will ease Tuesday night, and temperatures are forecast to remain at or above freezing in Greater Bangor.

Temperatures going into Wednesday and Thursday will hover in the mid-30s to low 40s, and clouds will predominate until the weekend.